


Hermitcraft Oneshots

by Vaunna



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Non-Graphic Violence, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29685924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaunna/pseuds/Vaunna
Summary: A collection of Hermitcraft oneshots.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	1. Team ZIT In Hardcore Hermits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team ZIT find themselves in a sticky situation in their hardcore hermits world nether (note: not set during any particular season of HCH)

Every member of Team ZIT had been to the nether thousands - maybe even hundreds of thousands - of times, but in a world where even a single death would separate them from their friends for the rest of the competition, it was safe to say their nerves were on-edge. 

“Well, at least we got an achievement just for getting here,” remarked Impulse, clutching his trident and shield as tightly as he could as he stared around the unforgiving fire realm. “But I say we leave and come back once we get diamond gear.”

“Oh c’mon, there’s TONS of easy achievements here,” Tango said dismissively. “We’ll be in and out. Ten minutes. Twenty, tops. Now let’s go find a fortress.”

Tango led the way down the dunes of netherrack, with Impulse just behind him and Zedaph bringing up the rear.

“I predict at least one of us will fall into lava and die a horrible, painful death,” said Zedaph cheerfully. “Probably Impulse. And we won’t even get to use that pretty trident of his.” 

Tango snickered. “I still can’t believe you got a trident BEFORE getting diamond gear.”

“You know, we’re EXTREMELY lucky I got loyalty on this thing,” Impulse responded, “cuz I know for a fact that the only other long-range weapon we have on us is Zed’s bow.”

“And I have no arrows,” Zedaph said helpfully.

Tango and Impulse stared back at him. 

“Well, that’s not very useful,” remarked Impulse. 

Zedaph shrugged. “You told me to bring a bow; you didn’t mention arrows, so I forgot to- TANGO, TANGO, TANGO!”

Impulse whirled round as Zedaph shrieked, and found Tango leaping across a wide gap onto a floating island with nothing but lava below it. 

“Tango, oh my God!” yelped Impulse. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Trying to get advancements, here. Now come ON!”

“No, you come back here!” Impulse pointed impatiently at his feet like a master calling his dog. “We’re not going that way.”

Rolling his eyes, Tango took a run-up and jumped back over the gap, causing Impulse and Zedaph both to wince. 

“Stop doing that, man!” Zedaph said. “You do remember that once we die, we’re dead permanently in this world, right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” sighed Tango. “Come on, now.” 

He took off jogging to the left. His friends did the same, knowing they’d be left behind if they didn’t match his pace.

“Tango, seriously, let’s go and come back when we have diamond armour,” said Impulse. “Iron armour doesn’t do a lot against ghasts.”

This time, Tango simply ignored him.

He kept going until he reached the edge of a cliff. One look told him the land below was too far down to jump, so he simply changed direction again.

“Wait!” Impulse shouted, he and Zedaph struggling to keep up. “Tango, wait for us!”

“Hurry up!” Tango called back impatiently. 

“Tango, watch out for the-!” 

Zedaph’s warning was cut off as a ghast’s fireball blasted the area right in the middle of the group. The force of the projectile shoved all three of them backwards; Tango and Impulse were far enough away from the cliff that they were in no danger but unfortunately, Zedaph wasn’t so lucky. 

“Zed!” yelled Tango in a panic, catching sight of Zedaph’s flailing arms as his friend disappeared over the edge of the cliff. 

As Impulse swiftly took down the ghast with his trident, Tango rushed to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

Thankfully, Zedaph had avoided the large pit of lava mere feet to his left, but the fall had clearly injured him; even from this height, Tango could see his friend’s left leg and arm both bent at painful-looking angles. 

His heart pounding, Tango carefully created a netherrack staircase going halfway down, before jumping off and dropping the rest of the way. Landing without a scratch, Tango rushed to Zedaph’s side and helped him sit up. “Zed, are you okay?! Talk to me!”

Zedaph was groaning in pain, his chest heaving. “I-It hurts, T-Tango…! I c-can’t feel my l-leg…!”

“Oh no, oh no, oh no…!”

“Tango!” 

Impulse appeared out of nowhere and leapt in front of Tango, lifting his shield to protect his friends from another ghast fireball. After taking out this ghast with his trident as well, he turned back to Tango and Zedaph. “We gotta go, quickly!” 

“How? Our end portal’s up there!” Tango pointed upwards with a shaky finger. “How’re we gonna get there without dying?”

As Impulse opened his mouth to respond, he spotted a pair of gigantic magma cubes hopping towards them. 

“Well, we can’t stay here!” Impulse moved around his friends and crouched slightly, ready to defend them. “Go make a cave in the netherrack so we can look at Zed’s wounds. Quickly!”

Tango carefully lifted Zedaph up and slung his friend’s uninjured arm over his shoulder, supporting him without further injuring Zedaph’s leg or arm. Zedaph was clearly half-delirious from pain, but he was conscious enough to not be a hindrance as Tango hurriedly mined out a small cave in the netherrack cliff and gently lay Zedaph down on the rough surface inside.

After managing to kill only one of the magma cubes, Impulse rushed away and joined his friends in the cave, placing down two fences he happened to have on him to keep out monsters. 

“Where does it hurt, Zed?” Impulse asked gently.

Zedaph’s voice was strained as he replied, “A-Arm. And l-leg. B-Broken.” 

“Well, I dunno about your arm but your leg’s definitely busted,” confirmed Tango grimly. “Without a healing potion, there’s no way you’re walking on it without a ton of pain.” He turned to Impulse. “Do you have the healing potion on you?”

Impulse didn’t even need to check his inventory. “No, I didn’t bring it. I didn’t seriously think we’d be here for very long with IRON tools and IRON armour.”

“Can you not start this again NOW?” snapped Tango. “I messed up, alright!? I just want to do well in this competition.”

“At the expense of your best friends’ lives?” Impulse retorted. “Look at Zed! Look what you did to him! He’s in pain and it’s all your fault!”

Tango opened his mouth to snap back, but his gaze flickered down to his quietly groaning best friend and the words died on his tongue. This… This really WAS his fault, wasn’t it? It was his fault that Zedaph was in such horrible pain. He had caused this. 

His stomach dropping, he staggered back a few steps and sat down heavily on the netherrack floor. Burying his face in his hands, he cried.

Most of Impulse’s fury left him as he gazed down at Tango. Sighing quietly, he sat down next to Tango and put his arm over his shoulder. “Hey… It’s alright. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean what I said. I want to do well too, but we only will if we work as a team. You do know that, right? That we’re a team?”

When he got no reply from his friend, Impulse gave him a quick one-armed hug. “Let’s just get outta here, okay? We can talk more when we’re back in the overworld.”

After a moment, Tango lifted his head and nodded wordlessly, wiping his eyes dry with his sleeve. He gave a small smile, and Impulse mirrored it. “Okay, let’s… let’s go.”

The two rose to their feet and approached Zedaph, who had passed out by now. “Tango, you’re stronger; can you take Zed while I mine out a staircase back up to the portal?”

Tango nodded again and lifted Zed almost-effortlessly into his arms. His newly discovered sense of determination gave him enough strength to hold his best friend as tenderly as he would hold a baby. All he could think of was that Zedaph needed him, so he couldn’t let him down.

After what felt like hours of mining and climbing, the group made it back to their nether portal. They quickly stood inside it, letting the portal transport them back to their base in the overworld. 

Tango immediately lay Zedaph down on his bed, while Impulse rushed off to get the healing potion. He returned with it and carefully poured it into Zedaph’s mouth. Then the two stepped back and watched their friend anxiously as the potion worked its magic. 

Finally, Zedaph’s eyes fluttered open and registered Tango and Impulse standing next to him. He frowned, taking in deep breaths. “Is my leg supposed to feel like it’s been trampled on by several ravagers?”

“Yup, that’s how you know the potion’s working,” Impulse replied wryly.

“Well then, it must be working.” Zedaph craned his neck to look down at his leg, as if he was checking that it was still there. “Because it feels like a ravager is jumping up and down on it right now.”

Tango couldn’t help a quiet laugh as he ruffled his best friend’s hair. “Glad you’re feeling better, buddy. I’m… I’m sorry I did this to you.”

Zedaph shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault, Tango. We weren’t prepared for the nether, and we know that now. Next time, we’ll make sure we’re fully aware of any and all ghasts trying to blast our butts off.”

This time, all three of them laughed. Even though their expedition had been a horrific failure, at least they were all alive. They were all okay. 

And as long as they stuck together, they could survive anything.


	2. A Diabolical Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helsknight returns to the server seeking revenge on Wels

Welsknight had been avoiding his nether portal as much as possible since he saw his doppelganger disappear through it. Something about the formerly harmless particles and whooshing noise when he walked past it now just about gave him an anxiety attack every time he walked past it. Once, when Jevin popped out of it to say hello just hours after Helsknight had left, Wels had reacted so violently that Jevin was STILL wary around him all these months later. 

Nobody used his portal anymore. He made sure of that. 

One sunny day, he finally worked up the courage to go to the shopping district, something he hadn’t dared to do in weeks in case something happened. He went straight past his own portal and flew all the way to Etho’s; there was no way he was going to use the portal his evil clone went through to go back to the hell dimension from which he had come. 

The shopping district had changed a lot in the weeks Wels had been avoiding it. He couldn’t help staring around at the myriad of new shops that had sprung up. It almost seemed like an entirely new place. 

As Wels entered the barge, he found another Hermit already inside, browsing the chest full of golden carrots. 

“Hi, Joe,” said Wels politely, unable to hide a smile at the sight of his old friend. 

Joe turned and gave him a wave. “Howdy, Wels. Haven’t seen you around here for a few weeks.”

“Yeah, it’s been… a while. Just been busy, that’s all.” Wels awkward;y indicated the chest. “You, uh… buying stuff?”

“Nah, I’m not dealing with diamonds this season. I thought Grian might be open to some kind of trading system using stuff other than diamonds but he hasn’t responded to my message yet, so in the meantime, I’m-.” He broke off with a frown. “Okay, I think I might have forgotten to actually send the message.”

Wels chuckled. “You’re busy too, huh? You only start forgetting stuff when you’ve got a lot on your mind.”

Joe matched his chuckle. “I’ve got quite a few projects going at the moment, yes. You wanna come over to my base sometime and I’ll show you what I’m working on?”

“That sounds nice, Joe, thanks.”

At that moment, the sound of a firework going off nearby caused both of them to look up. A second later, a figure glided through the door and landed neatly on the ground, his elytra closing as he took a few steps further into the room. “Hey, Wels,” Etho said, giving a friendly wave. “Man, you really got here fast.”

Wels frowned at his friend. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I just saw you over by Shade-E-E’s a minute ago. You said hello to me and everything.”

“That…” Wels’s heart skipped a beat. “That wasn’t me.”

Etho frowned back. “Well, then… Someone must’ve stolen a spare set of armour or something, cuz it looked exactly like you.”

“Oh…” Blinking very fast, Wels let out a nervous breath. “Oh, boy… Please don’t tell me he’s back…”

Etho and Joe exchanged a confused look. “Who?” asked Joe.

Wels considered either making something up or dismissing his comment, but looking at the concerned faces of two of his best friends on the server, he decided to tell the truth. “The evil clone of myself that Beef and I accidentally created who ran off into the nether after I beat him in a rap battle when he tried to destroy the server.”

Etho stared at him with wide eyes. 

“I thought it might be something like that,” said Joe, nodding.

“How can you possibly have been expecting that?” Wels said in disbelief.

Joe shrugged. “I’ve heard weirder.”

“Well… anyway. His name is Helsknight and he’s from a nether-like dimension called Hels, apparently. I thought I’d driven him back to where he came from but I should’ve known he wouldn’t stay away for long.”

“To be frank, beating him in a rap battle isn’t quite as definitive as beating him in PVP,” said Joe. 

Wels scowled. “The last time I tried PVP, you dropped an anvil on my head from a great height.”

“Oh yeah.” Joe snickered. “I did.”

“Leaving that aside,” said Etho, “it seems there’s an evil clone of you loose on the server, so we should probably deal with that. Helsknight, you said his name is?”

Wels nodded. “He looks exactly like me except his eyes are red, his armour is slightly greyer than mine, and his hair is a darker shade of blond.”

“Ohh, I noticed the darker armour,” said Etho. “I just thought it was the shade from my shop. I guess we’d better go find him, huh?”

“Yeah, I need to find him before he causes any more chaos. You guys should probably warn the other Hermits so they-.”

“No, we’re coming with you to find him,” Etho interrupted. 

“It’ll be quicker if the three of us look together,” Joe added. “Plus, I’ve never met an evil clone before, so it would be rather thrilling to do so.”

Wels frowned at his friends. “Are you sure? He’s really dangerous. I don’t know exactly what he’s capable of, but he’s from a hellfire dimension, so...”

“As sure as the day is long,” replied Joe, patting his friend on the shoulder. “You need our help and we aren’t gonna abandon you.”

As Etho nodded, Wels gave a small smile. “Thank you, guys. I really appreciate it.”

“No worries. So where should we look first?” asked Etho.

“Well…” Wels thought for a moment. “He’s probably trying to cause some shenanigans on the server. If we check certain prominent places on the server, we’ll probably find him trying to lure me out somehow.”

“I’ll check the rest of the shopping district, then,” said Joe. “He might still be here.”

“I’ll have a look round the nether hub and the Upside Down,” Etho added. “You said he’s from a nether-like dimension so he might gravitate there. What about you, Wels?”

“I’m going to Bdubs’s castle,” said Wels. “It’s the most medieval build on the server, so if he isn’t there now, he’ll end up there eventually.”

“Okay, but be careful, Wels,” Etho said softly. “Don’t do anything reckless.”

“I won’t.”

With that, the group split up. 

Wels flew straight over to Bdubs’s base. As he got closer, he couldn’t help marvelling at the sheer size and grandeur of the cliff and the castle sitting atop it. It was one of the grandest bases on the servers, so Wels felt sure he would find his clone here.

He landed atop the cliff and started looking around. As he explored further, he spotted the person he was looking for standing at the entrance to Bdubs’s castle. 

“If you’re looking for your little friend Bdoubleo, he’s in the nether,” crowed Helsknight. “I watched him go through his portal.”

Wels glared up at his doppelganger. “You know I’m not looking for Bdubs.”

“Are you here to rap battle with me again, then?” Helsknight grinned. “I warn you: I’ve been practising.”

Shaking his head, Wels drew his sword. “No, Hels. I’m going to do what I should have done in the first place.” 

Helsknight sighed and drew his own sword. “So boring. Come on, then.”

His doppelganger’s relaxed, indifferent manner sent a bolt of anger straight into Wels. Letting out a yell, he charged to attack.

Their battle lasted at least ten minutes, though to Wels, it felt like hours. He poured all his energy into his swings, attacking his evil clone with all the rage and fear that had threatened to consume him since Helsknight had disappeared into the nether all those months ago. He was done letting his negative emotions control his life. 

Finally, Wels managed to knock Helsknight’s sword out of his hand and kick him to the ground, aiming his own sword at his evil clone’s neck. 

Helsknight simply grinned evilly up at him. “You gonna kill me, Welsy? I wouldn’t do it if I were you; we Hels Hermits only get stronger when we die. If you kill me, I’ll come back with a vengeance. We have a special lava fountain in Hels that can-.”

“Oh, shut up,” snapped Wels suddenly. “I’m not going to kill you, but not because of any stupid threats you make. I don’t care what you have in Hels. I’m not going to kill you, because I’m merciful. But if you ever come back here again, I won’t be so forgiving. Do you understand?”

Helsknight simply stared back at him. “You’ve got some great friends here, Welsy. Better hold onto them in case something… happens.”

Wels narrowed his eyes. “You stay away from them. I swear to god, if you-.”

He hadn’t realised that he had lowered his hand slightly until Helsknight moved, fast as lightning, and kicked the sword out of his hand. Before he could react, Helsknight jumped up and grabbed him by the throat. He took two steps forward and threw Wels over the edge of the cliff. 

The fall seemed to take only a split second, but the cliff was tall enough that Wels’s left leg broke immediately upon impacting the ground. He lay still in shock, too numb to cry, despite the searing pain in his leg, which was folded painfully underneath his body. 

Helsknight appeared above him and effortlessly picked him up off the ground, again by the throat. He grinned, his face less than a foot from Wels’s.

“You know what else we have in Hels?” Helsknight taunted. “Fire. Lots of fire.”

He lifted his free hand, which was now engulfed in burning hot flames. Wels weakly struggled in his grip, trying to lean as far away from his counterpart as possible, as Helsknight slowly moved the fire closer to his face, taunting him with the fact that he couldn’t escape it. 

The flames started to burn his face. He held his breath, trying not to let his pain show, trying not to give Helsknight the satisfaction. 

But finally, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He let out a cry at the burning agony across the side of his face.

Helsknight barked a laugh and retracted his hand, as if all he’d been after was a reaction from Wels. “Maybe you should stick with the rap battles next time.”

With that, he dropped Wels on the ground and walked away.

Wels lay where he fell, unable to move through the burning pain in his face and leg. His chest moved quickly up and down as he struggled for oxygen, still winded from the battle. 

“Wels!” yelled a familiar voice from somewhere behind him. 

Seconds later, Joe appeared on his right and Etho on his left, their worried faces peering down at him. 

“Is he okay?” Joe gasped.

“H-His face…!” Etho gently touched Wels’s burnt cheek. Wels could feel his friend’s cool fingers trembling. “Wels, can you hear me?”

Wels couldn’t speak, couldn’t reassure his friends that he would be okay. His leg would heal. His face, he wasn’t sure yet. The only thing he knew wouldn’t heal was the crushing feeling of failure, of knowing that because of said failure, an evil clone of himself was still running around the server, potentially hurting people he cared about. The pain in his leg and face served as an agonising reminder that he wasn’t strong enough to stop his doppelganger. 

How was he supposed to protect other people when he couldn’t even protect himself?


	3. Welcome To The Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zedaph has a certain connection to the Cave of Contraptions

Zedaph sees the magic in everything.

Some of the Hermits think it’s a blessing, some think it’s a curse. Zedaph knows it’s neither. 

Wherever Zedaph goes, he sees things as they truly are, not how they pretend to be. His eyes see past the exterior and look deep into the interior. He can effortlessly pick out the virtues and flaws of the universe this way. They stand out to him like redstone on white concrete. 

He can’t control it, of course. He can’t simply switch off his special gift, like Xisuma switches off his admin powers when he’s done with them. But Zedaph doesn’t mind. The magic doesn’t stop him from sleeping, after all.

Maybe that’s why the cave called to him, beckoning him closer, inviting him to explore. Anyone else would see an empty cave, the kind to either be ignored or mined out to the point of destruction. But not Zedaph.

There’s magic in the cave. A presence that Zedaph can’t quite place. It almost feels like the area is alive, humming with invisible life at all times. But there’s nothing living in the cave; not yet, anyway. Zedaph has plans. 

With each contraption he builds, the energy in the cave increases. He doesn’t notice it day-to-day but when Tango or Impulse visits, they comment on how different the cave feels. Zedaph simply laughs away their remarks; he knows exactly what they’re referring to but there’s no need to mention it to them. It’s not hurting him. 

After a while, he notices the contraptions communicating with him. A certain clink from the Zombie Plinko, the swirling of the water in the Magic Puddle, the gnashing of Bone Appetit’s teeth. This is how the Cave of Contraptions speaks to him. Zedaph has brought as much life to the cave as the cave has brought to him.

Other Hermits tell him he could beautify the inside; carve out more space in the ceiling and make it look like a proper home. But the cave IS home to Zedaph, no matter what it looks like. He doesn’t see jagged edges and unfinished surfaces. He feels the magic. 

The cave is alive. 

And it saved his life once, too. 

Once, when Zedaph was tired and not fully aware of his surroundings, he accidentally walked straight into the uncovered hole to the void. He would have died and lost all his belongings. But something caught him, some invisible magic stopped him from falling out of the world. And when Zedaph woke up the next morning, he found the hole covered with a trapdoor he did not place there. 

To this day, he still has no coherent explanation. And when other Hermits ask about the incident, he simply shrugs and says, “the cave saved me.” Tango and Impulse in particular think he’s crazy to believe that a non-sentient thing like a cave could possibly perform actions like that. But Zedaph knows better. 

The cave is alive. It cares for him just as much as he cares for it. 

He did try to leave once. The sheer intensity of the cave’s energy finally overwhelmed him and he had to flee to Impulse’s base for a few nights to let himself recover. He even considered taking Impulse’s advice and moving above ground permanently. 

But something drew him back to the cave. Its energy was manageable again, as if it was apologising for hurting him. It wanted him, needed him, here. Nobody else knows the cave like Zedaph does. It wants him to stay. And Zedaph wants to stay. 

It’s true that Zedaph can see the magic in everything, especially in the Cave of Contraptions.

But perhaps the Cave of Contraptions can see the magic in Zedaph too.


	4. Separation AU Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Impulse and Skizzleman have lived in the same world together for decades, and that’s just the way they like it. But all that will change when one day, Impulse is summoned (literally) to the Hermitcraft server...

“WHOAAAA!”

With a yelp, Impulse dropped into a shallow hole over where he had just been walking. He stared upwards as he heard laughter and spotted the grinning face of his best friend a few blocks above him.

“Skizz!” Impulse laughed indignantly. “This is like the oldest trick in the book!”

“Uh huh, and you fell for it,” Skizzleman replied through his laughter. “Skizz: one. Dippledop: zero.”

“Get me outta here and I’ll SHOW you zero,” Impulse snickered. “Got any ladders?”

Skizzleman dropped a single ladder into the hole. At Impulse’s raised eyebrow, he giggled and dropped a few more, before stepping back and letting his best friend climb out of the hole. 

Impulse shook his head amusedly at the grin on Skizzleman’s face. “Have you done your chores yet? Or did you spend the whole morning setting up that prank?”

“Whaaaat? Does that sound like something I would do?”

“Yup.”

Skizzleman made eye contact with Impulse, causing him to giggle again. “Okay, yeah, I did.”

Impulse chuckled as he started walking back towards the house, letting his best friend fall into step beside him. “It’s your turn to harvest and replant, buddy.” 

“Aww, but it’s so boring,” Skizzleman complained, flipping around to walk backwards so he could talk directly to Impulse’s face. “Can’t we just skip chores for today and go to the beach?”

Impulse scoffed. “Skizz-.”

“C’mon, just look at that ocean.” Skizzleman threw his arm out to indicate the sparkling sea, just visible through the trees. “Can’t you hear it calling you? Don’t you wanna just dive into the cool, refreshing water and just relaaaaaax?”

“You’re doing a great job of selling it, I gotta admit,” said Impulse amusedly. “Okay, we’ll go to the beach, but only if you do crops for the next two days.”

“Done.”

Skizzleman broke into a run, causing Impulse to laugh and pick up speed to catch up with him. 

However, at just over halfway to the beach, Impulse skidded to a halt, realising his entire body had started to glow. “Uh, Skizz?”

His best friend stopped a few blocks ahead of him. “What? Oh…! Wait, what’s happening?”

As Impulse was staring down at his glowing hands, he felt himself be lifted slowly off the ground, the block around him glowing brightly.

“Wh-What’s going on, dude?!” Skizzleman yelped. “What are you doing?”

“I’m not doing anything!” Impulse started to panic. “Skizz, help me!”

He reached out blindly and Skizzleman grabbed his hands. Impulse hung almost upside down in the air, as if something was dragging him upwards by his legs. He strained against the invisible force, focusing on holding onto Skizzleman’s hands as tightly as he could.

But the pull was just too strong.

“IMPULSE!”

Skizzleman cried out as he felt Impulse’s hands slip from his. He toppled face-first into the dirt, but by the time he managed to push himself onto his back and look up, Impulse had disappeared.

Impulse couldn’t stop screaming as he fell through a weird, terrifying vortex of swirling colours. He managed to angle himself so he was feet-first, but this did nothing to alleviate his fear.

And then he landed.

He stumbled as his feet hit the ground, but quickly regained his footing enough to not fall over. Blinking against the bright sunlight shining directly in his face, he realised he could see the slightly blurry outlines of three people standing a little way off, watching him.

Just as he registered them, one of the figures rushed towards him and grabbed him in a tight hug. “Impulse! Oh my god, I can’t believe it actually worked! You’re actually here!”

The person’s distinctive voice helped Impulse identify him immediately, and he was so shocked that he momentarily forgot his disorientation. “T-Tango?!”

Tango released him and stepped back, an expression of pure joy on his face. “You’re really here! I can’t believe it!”

“Wait, wait…!” Impulse frowned, his brain still trying to figure out what had just happened. He stared around and found himself in a brand new world, entirely different from the one he had just come from. “Where am I? And how did I get here?”

Tango beamed. “You’re on Hermitcraft, buddy!”

“And you got here through a… uh… sort of wormhole,” added an unfamiliar voice.

Impulse turned to find a person wearing green armour and a purple helmet. 

“Hi, I’m Xisuma,” the person said, giving a friendly smile. He indicated the suited person behind him. “This is Mumbo.”

“Hi!” said Mumbo happily. “Welcome to Hermitcraft.”

“I…” Impulse blinked, hardly daring to believe it. “I really am on Hermitcraft? But- But why did you bring me here?”

“Because you belong here, Impy.” Tango gripped his friend’s shoulders. “I’ve been trying to bring you here for months and it never worked until now. I don’t really know what Xisuma did, but you’re finally here.”

“What about Skizzleman, though?” Impulse asked urgently. “You’re gonna bring him here too, right?”

Tango’s smile fell. He glanced back at Xisuma, whose shoulders drooped. “I… um… I tried to grab onto both of you and get you both here, but… it didn’t work for Skizzleman. There’s something in his code, something that didn’t let me latch onto him. I can’t bring him here. I’m… I’m sorry.”

Impulse stared at him, his stomach lurching. “So… I-I’ll never see him again?”

“Not never,” said Tango quickly. “Just…”

When Tango failed to come up with anything else, Xisuma said, “The borders between servers and worlds are rocky at best. We can’t send you back or bring him here, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good life here.”

“A good life?!” Impulse’s fists clenched. “How can it be a good life without Skizzleman?!”

Xisuma held out his hands to steady him. “Impulse, please, calm down a moment and-.”

“Calm down?! Y-You just plucked me out of my world without my consent! Forcibly separating me from my best friend! What gave you the right to make that decision for me?”

“Impy-,” tried Tango.

“Don’t Impy me!” Impulse’s voice cracked. “We’ve lived together for most of our lives; I can’t just abandon him!”

“You’re not abandoning him.” Tango grabbed his friend’s hands soothingly. “You’re moving on to a new life, a better life. If Skizz is truly your best friend, which he is, he can’t possibly resent you for taking the opportunity.”

“I…” Impulse hesitated. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to him.”

Xisuma winced and hung his head. “I’m sorry, Impulse.”

Seeing how defeated Xisuma was, Impulse’s anger slowly ebbed away. He glanced back at the spot where he had been summoned, a lump rising in his throat. 

“Impulse, this is the start of a new life for you,” Tango said gently. “And for me. Finally, you and I get to live on a server together. Imagine what we can do! The possibilities are endless.” 

“But they’re not,” Impulse whispered. “Because Skizz isn’t here.”

“Listen…” Tango hesitated. “You two have been together for… for god knows how many years. This change will be good for both of you.”

“And I’ll keep investigating to see if we can bring Skizzleman here,” said Xisuma. “But in the meantime, your new life awaits you.”

Impulse cleared his throat. While part of his brain wanted to scream and cry at being separated from his best friend, he couldn’t deny that he was excited about the chance to finally be on Hermitcraft, as a member of their family. So many more things were possible on a server than in a simple world, from building materials to redstone contraptions. And it wasn’t as if he would be alone; he had Tango, he had Xisuma and Mumbo, he had many other Hermits whom he hadn’t even met yet. 

“Alright, then.” A smile slowly spread over Impulse’s face. “What first?”

A spark ignited in Tango’s eyes. “Oh, first we gotta introduce you to all the other Hermits! Then we can talk about building bases. You and I could build one together! I’m thinking a giant underground base in maybe a nether style? There’s so many block palettes we can use and- oh, I think I might already have the perfect thing back at my-.”

“Whoa, buddy, slow down,” laughed Impulse. “Let’s start with meeting the other Hermits, okay?”

As Tango nodded happily, the phrase “other Hermits” reverberated in Impulse’s mind. He knew it would take a long time to get used to this change and wrap his head around the fact that…

...that he was a Hermit now.

…

After six long, sleepless nights in the big house all alone, Skizzleman had finally given up and moved. With his limited building skills, he had managed to construct a small shack near to where Impulse had vanished. His spark, his passion for life, faded a little more with every day that passed. 

Skizzleman exited his tiny shack and harvested the small amount of wheat next to the pond, before replanting it monotonously. He then used the wheat to make a few more pieces of bread for his stock. It wasn’t much but it was enough to get by. 

After his chores were done, he made his way slowly towards the beach. The sand and the sea used to call to him, urging him to rush down there and have some fun. Not anymore.

On his way, he passed the spot Impulse had disappeared from. No sunlight hit this block anymore. The small allium Skizzleman had managed to plant there was barely visible in the shade. 

He lay down on the grass and stared morosely up at the sky, his hand resting on the dirt around the flower, his elbow bent slightly as if he had his arm over his best friend’s shoulder. Closing his eyes, tears trickled down his cheeks. 

Skizzleman had never been so alone before.


	5. Separation AU Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After four and a half years in Hermitcraft, Impulse is shown a portal that will take him to the place he most wants to go. But where IS that, exactly?

When Doc had first shown Team ZIT his infinity portal, claiming it could take you to the place you most wanted to go, their initial reaction had been to laugh knowingly, because how could there be a place other than Hermitcraft where they would want to go? 

But Impulse found he couldn’t stop thinking about this mysterious portal, so he returned to it the next morning and sat down in front of it, staring into the swirling pink vortex and wondering what would happen if he went through.

His mind jumped guiltily back to someone whom he hadn’t thought about in several months. Would this portal take Impulse back to… to HIM? 

It had been four and a half years since Impulse and Skizzleman had been separated. For a long time, Impulse’s heart had been split between Hermitcraft and his old friend, but lately, he had been pouring a hundred percent of his energy into his projects, and that wasn’t even including how busy he had been with Grian and Ren, protesting against Area 77. There was no time for nostalgia. 

But now that all that was over, he had time. He could just sit here for a few hours, thinking and remembering. All the good times he had had with Skizzleman over the years. He had new best friends in Tango and Zedaph, of course. But did he love his life with them more than he missed his life with Skizzleman?

After a long time, he came to the conclusion that if he stepped through this portal, it would likely take him back to Skizzleman. 

So NOW the question was… did he want to do that? Did he want to leave Hermitcraft behind for this one-way trip back to the world he and Skizzleman had grown up in? Would his best friend even still be there, still waiting for him? 

“Hey, Impulse!” 

Impulse jerked so hard he nearly fell over. Glancing to his left, he spotted Zedaph coming towards him, hands in his pockets. “Oh, hey, Zed. How’s it going?”

“Oh, not too bad.” Zedaph sat down beside his friend, giving him a sideways look. “You, on the other hand, look like you’ve been thinking a little too intensely for a little too long.”

“I think I have,” Impulse sighed. “It’s this portal, man. Doc said it’ll take us to where we most want to go.”

Zedaph’s gaze flickered from Impulse to the portal, then back again a few seconds later. He had been told long ago the story and circumstances of how Impulse had come to be on Hermitcraft, and it certainly didn’t take a genius to figure out what Impulse had been thinking about. “Are you gonna go through it?”

Impulse’s lack of an immediate response worried Zedaph. “I don’t know, honestly. It could take me back to my best friend, which I never thought possible after I got summoned here, but… I’m still thinking about whether I want that or not.”

“Ah.” Zedaph cleared his throat. “Well… for what it’s worth, I think you’ve got a good life here. Whatever might be waiting for you on the other side of that portal, is it worth giving up Hermitcraft for?”

Impulse hesitated, his gaze fixed on the portal again. “I guess… I better think about this some more.” Realising how late it was getting, he rose to his feet and stretched his limbs. “I’m gonna go home and get some sleep. See you tomorrow, man.”

Zedaph nodded back. “See you tomorrow.”

…

“Zed, I’m… I’m a little scared,” Tango admitted to his best friend. “I saw the way Impulse was looking at that portal when Doc showed us the other day. I-I’m scared he’s gonna leave.”

“Really?” Zedaph frowned. “Why?”

“Because… Because it was my idea to summon him from his own world and bring him here. It was my fault he got ripped away from Skizzleman forever. What if he’s gonna take this opportunity to go back to him? What if… What if he wants to be with Skizz more than he wants to be here, on Hermitcraft, with us?”

Zedaph hesitated, wondering whether or not to tell Tango what he had seen yesterday. 

“I mean, I don’t regret bringing him here,” Tango added. “Not at all. These last few years have been some of the best of my life, and it only got better when you joined. I just… can’t help feeling guilty. And scared.”

This helped Zedaph make up his mind. “Then… there’s something you should know.”

He quickly told Tango about his encounter with Impulse at the portal.

“...and then he went home,” he finished. “I’m really worried about him; it sounds like he was only a few seconds away from going through that portal yesterday.”

Tango stared at him, another pang of guilt shooting through his heart. “He’s been on Hermitcraft nearly five years; isn’t he happy here? Would he really just leave us…?”

“I don’t know,” Zedaph replied quietly. “I just think maybe you should talk to him, see if you can get a more accurate impression of his thoughts.”

“Yeah, I think I will.” 

Sure enough, later that night, Tango went round to Impulse’s base and knocked on the door. Receiving no reply, he entered and made his way quietly up to Impulse’s bedroom to check if his best friend was sleeping.

But Impulse’s bedroom was empty. 

Sighing, Tango went to the window and looked out, but saw no sign of his friend. As he turned away, he accidentally knocked the flower pot off the window ledge, causing it to roll almost under Impulse’s bed. He knelt down to pick it up but that was when he spotted something unusual underneath his friend’s bed. After putting the flowerpot back in place, he reached under and pulled it out.

It was an unzipped duffle bag, with items Tango recognised as some of Impulse’s most precious possessions inside. 

His heart stopped. 

_He… He really is going to leave…!_

Tears filled his eyes, but he quickly shoved the bag back under the bed and fled. 

…

Unable to sleep, Impulse was back at the portal, his mind and heart aching with painful thoughts and feelings. Why didn’t he want to leave? Here was a way to finally be reunited with the person he loved most in the universe, and here he was, hesitating. Had things really changed that much in over four years?

Yes, yes they had, he realised. He had grown as a person more here than he ever had in his world with Skizzleman. And that wasn’t his fault, right? In an environment where he was surrounded by close friends and his skills were challenged every day, it was only natural he would grow and change. He wasn’t the same Impulse who had been plucked from his world all those years ago, and he would be willing to bet Skizzleman wasn’t the same person who had watched his best friend disappear in front of his eyes. 

It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t ask to be brought here. Maybe at first he had only stayed because he had known there was no way back, but he had settled here. Made a new life. 

Hermitcraft was his home, and nothing would ever change that. 

But Skizzleman was also his home. He had been Impulse’s home for far longer than Hermitcraft had been. 

So where would this portal even take him…?

...and did he even want to find out?

…

A few more months went by. The first few weeks after the introduction of the portal were the tensest ever in Team ZIT’s friendship, but as time went on, the portal became just another memory in the back of their minds. 

All too soon, season 6 had ended and season 7 was upon them. At the first meeting on their new world, Tango couldn’t help sneaking glances at Impulse every now and then. He seemed happy, if a little preoccupied. A new world, a new life. 

One without the infinity portal.

Tango couldn’t shake his guilt. Of course he was relieved that Impulse hadn’t gone through the portal, but he couldn’t stop thinking about why. Why he hadn’t left when he had the chance. Surely that meant Impulse was happy here, right? He was happy on Hermitcraft. He was happy with Tango and Zedaph. 

But it had been Tango’s idea to summon Impulse to Hermitcraft in the first place. The guilt had gnawed away at him for so long, only fading in the latter half of season three, when it became clear that Impulse was settling into his new life. Now it had been reignited. Would it have been better to let Impulse go? Was it selfish of him to keep Impulse here? WAS he the only thing keeping Impulse here?

Not knowing was absolute torture.

But as Team ZIT split off from the group to explore their new world together, Tango noticed how Impulse was chatting happily with Zedaph, even playfully shoving him into a bush. It was as if all thoughts of the infinity portal had simply vanished from his mind. 

So Tango did his best to forget as well, and soon, he was able to relax and mess around with his best friends, the three of them laughing as they discussed their plans for the season. 

But none of them would ever truly forget.


	6. Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stress and Impulse have swapped bases, but unlike the other Hermits, they know it's only temporary. They're just babysitting each other's bases, aren't they?

It was fair to say that StressMonster101 had been fairly apprehensive about the big move at first. After finding out another Hermit was going to have her base for a while and vice versa, she hadn’t been sure who to hope for. But it was also fair to say that once Stress had found out she would be swapping with Impulse, her excitement levels skyrocketed. 

After giving each other a quick tour of their bases, Stress and Impulse separated. Her mind already racing with ideas and plans, Stress returned to her new base and went straight to the storage area, gazing down through the floor at the unfinished cactus farm as she did.

“Right!” She beamed. “This place is a little lacking in something very, VERY important: pink. Everyone needs more pink in their lives, especially Impulse.”

So the very first thing she did was swap out the blue concrete highlights around the base to bright pink concrete, followed by replacing the blue stained glass lining the walkways with pink stained glass. 

“Perfect,” she said proudly, admiring her work. “Impulse could definitely use more pink in his life.”

As she went back into the base, she could almost feel the energy inside the pyramid changing, as if the whole base itself was complaining about her decision. 

“Don’t you give me that,” she laughed aloud, to nobody in particular. “I’m not gonna do anything TOO drastic. I’m just babysitting you for Impulse, yannow.”

The base seemed to object to that statement too. 

“You know what Impulse needs now?” Stress proclaimed to the base. “A lovely little indoor park. Working on that cactus farm has gotta be so monotonous; he needs somewhere to relax, surrounded by flowers and- OOH, I SHOULD GET HIM SOME BEES!”

She dashed off immediately to root through Impulse’s chests for flowers, mumbling to herself about how happy he would be when he saw the changes she was going to make to his base. Nothing too drastic, just some little things to improve Impulse’s daily mood and bring some more life to the place. While she couldn’t deny that the build itself was fantastic, it just lacked a certain spark that made it truly feel alive. 

Stress vowed to bring this spark to the base. 

...

Waking up after his first night in his new base, Impulse momentarily didn’t know where he was. Then he registered the decor and remembered what had gone on the day before and why exactly he was sleeping in a pink bed surrounded by stark white walls. 

He gingerly got out of bed and smoothed down the covers. Normally he wouldn’t bother making his bed, but it felt weird not to do so here in Stress’s base.

_No, not Stress’s base,_ he corrected himself reluctantly. _My base._

He shivered. Even just thinking those words felt wrong. 

After he had left the bed as presentable as he had found it, Impulse headed into the main part of the skull base and stood in the middle of the room, trying to think of ideas that weren’t too invasive. The last thing he wanted was to change something big and then have Stress hate it. 

And it really didn’t help that the style of this base was so different to his own. 

Glancing to his right, he spotted a slightly raised section of the floor that looked almost like a stage. Recalling that Stress, like himself, was a drummer, he got an idea. 

Half an hour later, he put the last block back in place and dusted off his hands. It was time to test out his invention.

He flicked the switch in front of him and grinned as a funky beat started playing. As he stood up, he couldn’t help bouncing from side to side in time to the beat, even going so far as to incorporate some dance moves. 

“She’ll like this,” he said confidently to himself. “She likes music. Ooh, maybe I should order a drumset from Beef’s shop to put around it? That’d be pretty cool.”

As he turned the lever off, he spotted the chicken Stress had spawned randomly in her base, staring at him from a few blocks away.

“Hey,” he said slowly. “Uh… you wanna dance?”

He turned the drum beat back on and awkwardly shuffled through some dance moves. 

The chicken just stared back at him.

Impulse sighed and switched off the beat. “What do you want from me? Why do you hate me so much?” He paused. “And why am I so insecure about being judged by a chicken?” 

He strode past the chicken and started looking through the chests stacked by the wall, looking for anything that might spark a new project idea. All he found, however, was stacks upon stacks of building materials that only served to remind him of the base he had left behind and all the plans he had been itching to get started on. 

Closing the last chest, he stepped back in disappointment. No inspiration whatsoever. Stress probably had loads of ideas for the pyramid, so Impulse felt bad that he couldn’t think of a single thing to improve his new base. He was letting Stress down already.

Something rubbed his leg, causing him to yelp and leap to the side, expecting to see a monster.

“Ugh,” he groaned, nudging the chicken away with his foot. “You scared the crap outta me, you-.” He broke off before he inadvertently called the chicken a horrible name. “Buddy, don’t scare me. Please. I’m still not comfortable here.”

The chicken cocked its head and continued staring at him.

This time, Impulse gazed back. “Are you hungry? Is that why you keep staring at me?”

He dug out some seeds from one of the chest and hesitantly held them out to the chicken, which approached him immediately and pecked them out of his hand.

Impulse chuckled and watched the chicken gobble up the seeds. “You really WERE hungry, huh? Well, maybe you’ll stop bothering me now.”

Once the chicken had finished the seeds, it turned and waddled back into the main room. It stopped in front of the lever and pecked at it.

Impulse curiously followed the chicken and flicked the lever on. “Is this what you want?”

The chicken jiggled back and forth in time with the drum beat, its little head wiggling from side to side. “There you go, you little drumstick,” Impulse laughed. “Now you’ve got a full belly, you wanna dance.”

He paused. “Hmm. That’d make a good name for you. Hey, you wanna be called Drumstick?”

The chicken looked up at him and clucked happily. Or rather, Impulse assumed it was a happy noise. 

“Then I guess your name is Drumstick now,” Impulse chuckled.

Drumstick responded by laying an egg. 

Impulse couldn’t help laughing at the comedic timing of the event. “Oh dear. You’re a funny chicken, aren’t you? Shall we see if we can get you a little friend?”

He picked up the egg and threw it at the wall. It burst open and a tiny chick fluttered down to the ground.

“Heeeey, you’re a mommy, Drumstick!” Impulse beamed and picked up the little baby from the ground, before bringing it over to his feathered friend. “Look. This is your baby. And I guess I hatched it, so would that make me her dad?”

Impulse blinked. “Nope, don’t wanna open that can of worms today. So what should we call you?” He gently tickled the baby under its neck with the back of his finger. “You’re just a little nugget, aren’t you? Shall we call you Nugget? Drumstick, should we call your little baby Nugget?”

Drumstick clucked and bobbed her head.

“Great! Impulse, Drumstick, and Nugget, the three musketeers.” A smile spread over Impulse’s face. “Hey, you know what? You two can be my project. I’ll build you a nice little area to live and make it look all pretty. Stress would really like that. Would you guys like that?”

Nugget responded by chirping quietly and snuggling into Impulse’s neck.

He chuckled and gently stroked her feathers. “I hope I don’t get too attached to you guys. You’re both gonna have to stay here when I move back to my base.”

Drumstick made a sad noise, as if she had understood his words. And perhaps she had. 

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Impulse lifted Drumstick onto his left shoulder and Nugget onto his right, ignoring the slight twinge as their claws dug into his skin. 

“C’mon, guys,” he said, unable to stop grinning. “Let’s get started.”


End file.
